A retired teacher was tormented for a decade by a former pupil who fleeced him out of £75,000 over ten years in a blackmail plot.

Graeme Robertshaw befriended the victim, a generous 83-year-old, who was then stripped of every penny he had and made to take out high interest payday loans by his tormentor.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Robertshaw threatened to tell police he had been abused by the former teacher if he didn't keep the money coming to fund his heroin habit.

Graeme Robertshaw (left) and accomplice Kenneth Price (right) were jailed at Newcastle Crown Court after he fleeced an 83-year-old retired teacher out of £75,000 in a 10-year scam

The scared pensioner, whose identity was protected by the court, was told sob stories and threatened over 10 years, between 2002 and 2012.

The blackmail finally came to an end when neighbours saw Robertshaw and accomplice Kenneth Price threatening the terrified victim in his own home in Blyth, Northumberland.

As Robertshaw was jailed for five years , Recorder Andrew Dallas told him: ‘He was generous towards you and you turned that to your advantage, you turned the screw on him and kept the screw turning for 10 years.